New registration obligations in the Polish SENT monitoring system for foreign carriers transporting goods across the Polish border to non-EU countries.


The new law regarding SENT in Poland introduces a requirement for foreign carriers, performing international road transport through Poland to non-EU countries, to register in this system. The registration requirement in the SENT system will apply as follows:

• From November 1, 2024: to carriers who are not based in an EU member state, Switzerland, or an EFTA member state (Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway).
• From January 1, 2025: to carriers from other EU member states, as well as Switzerland or EFTA member states (including Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway), who perform road transport in Poland to or from a non-EU country based on a permit required by an international agreement binding Poland and that country.
  
  Previously, the SENT obligations only applied to the transport of sensitive goods (e.g., fuels, oils, lubricants, alcohol), waste, and certain agricultural or food products.
  
  From November 1, 2024, the obligation will apply to all goods, not just the so-called sensitive goods, and the declared transport will be subject to GPS monitoring.
  
  In practice, this means that according to the new regulations, all foreign carriers (from outside the EU and EFTA) performing transport with a crossing of the Polish border or cabotage transport within Polish territory will be required to submit a SENT notification.
  
  
  Moreover, from January 1, 2025, in certain situations, the obligation to notify transport in the monitoring system and to ensure the transmission of its location data will also apply to carriers based in the European Union (and the before mentioned EFTA states, including Norway).
  
  This will apply to transport of goods that are made to or from non-EU countries.
  
  This means that, for example, a carrier based in Norway will be able to transport goods through Poland to Lithuania (which is in UE) without registering in the monitoring system.
  However, transporting goods to or from Ukraine ( non-EU country) through Poland will require such registration.
  
  Violations for which penalties are imposed are for examples:
  
  – Performing road transport of goods without registering in the notification register is subject to a fine of 12,000 PLN (approximately 33,000 NOK).
  – Failure to provide location data for the vehicle is subject to a fine of 10,000 PLN (approximately 28,000 NOK).
  
  These penalties are listed in Annex No. 3 to the Polish Road Transport Act – under items 3.2a and 3.2b.
  
  A separate penalty may be imposed for each violation, and these sanctions can be very severe.
  
  Therefore, it is worth preparing for the new obligations if, for example, a Norwegian carrier plans to transport goods to, or from Ukraine through Polish territory.